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Community Socials

Football Away Game Tailgating PartyHot

To foster a sense of team spirit in your community celebrate the first away game of the season with a parking lot tailgating party!

1)Encourage residents to set up their chairs, ice chests, and grills safely in the car park areas and lawns.

2)Aim to set up about three hours before game time. This may mean late afternoon on a weekday or mid-morning for weekend away games.

3)A big part of tailgating for the adults is alcohol. Remind residents to drink responsibly and have security present the day of the event just in case things get heated.

4)Decorate as much as possible with your team’s colors. Aim for balloons, banners, streamers, and even giveaway stickers or temporary tattoos.

**BONUS** Award prizes for residents with the most team spirit. Consider prizes for most decorated resident for the home team, as well as any spirited rival fans.

Drinks and Snacks

For colder months: If you’re planning an away-game party in late fall or winter, don’t forget the warm drinks like coffee, mulled cider, and hot cocoa. You can make hot and cold drinks available in the clubhouse to encourage folks to stop by.

Mulled cider is a great treat and easy to make ahead earlier in the day in a covered crockpot or two. Hot chocolate can be prepared using an available hot water dispenser and some instant mix sachets – don’t forget the mini marshmallows!

Coffee can be made ahead and kept in a pourable thermos. Keep some hot drink to-go cups with lids available for the resident’s drinks.

Consider making, or ordering ahead, some football cheese and crackers, deviled eggs, cookies, football cupcakes, or football-shaped sandwiches. You can also send out football-themed tailgating recipes to your residents ahead of the event and include some tasty recipes for marinades, rubs, and dips.

Games

Set up classic tailgating games in green areas or in blocked off areas of the parking lot. Games like Cornhole, Pocket Passer, and Ladder Toss are some great games to start. These games will test residents’ throwing and passing skills while they rack up points.

You can also head around the community to and challenge residents to answer NFL trivia questions using the cards from board games like NFL Gridiron Trivia Challenge. This game has questions for all the die-hard football fans.

Clean up

Make sure you plan to have enough time to clean up before the game starts.

1)Warn everyone well in advance of kickoff that the game will be starting soon. Be sure to give residents at least an hour to finish eating and clean up.

2)Plan to help resident’s safely pack up the hot coals from their barbeques in metal buckets and ash cans. This will keep hot coals safe as they cool off. Determine a place to store the cooling charcoal out of reach of children ahead of time and direct residents to place their coals there, or drive around the property parking lot picking them up.

3)If cleanup runs late to catch the beginning of the game, encourage residents to turn on their car radios or live-streaming devices to watch and listen.

4)Once the game starts, invite residents inside the clubhouse to watch the game live.

**TIP** be sure to keep extra garbage and recycling cans and bags around the property to make it easier for residents pack up their empty bottles and trash. Making trash cans easily available ahead of time means less work for maintenance in the days after the event!